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Up Up and Away, April

April 28, 2023 by Lauren 14 Comments

Time…slow…down.  As I am writing this, we just got home from eating lunch after church.  My daughter Allie helped lead worship this morning and I am painfully aware that the number of these opportunities is dwindling.  She graduates in one month and two days.  Not that I’m counting.  But I do know that in a couple of days, April is up up and away and we’re moving toward May.  In the mean time, we are relishing every last!

 

April Fools Day had me working a casino party for the senior adults at the REC center where I work and Allie attending (along with gobs of other teen girls) a Taylor Swift concert.  And now we shall move on to more wholesome endeavors (said in my best SNL church lady voice)!  Also in the first week both of Allie’s school choirs won Sweepstakes at UIL!

 

Our Easter Sunday was lovely.  Allie wanted to attend the sunrise service.  I was less motivated to get up for that, but we went to the 8am to make room in the more crowded services for guests.  Allie stayed and worshipped with us for that one too.  Then we drove the hour and a half to my parents’ church to surprise them and worship there with them.  We picked up lunch for us all and then my sisters and their families joined us there in the afternoon.

 

I got to have lunch with one of my dearest friends, her adult daughter and her daughter’s precious daughter mid-month.  Such a wonderful visit and a joy to hold that sweet baby.  I hope we get to do it again very soon.  Two days later I got to lunch with my sister and one of our friends from high school/ college.  An embarrassment of riches for me to get so much family and friend time in one week!  In between I finally got to graduate out of my adult braces and attended a celebration of life for a dear man we were in life group with for years.

 

More April Antics

 

I got to treat my girl to pedicures and nails in preparation for her senior prom.  Taking pictures of her and her friends was so fun.  And in my obviously biased opinion, Allie wore one of the most beautiful gowns I’ve ever seen.  And it perfectly suited her personality.  She had a ball at the ball and then brought a group of friends over to watch a movie.  Rowdy bunch!

 

Our Shelby started physical therapy for the first time since her spinal surgery in January and is working hard.  We are so pleased that she appears to be in a lot less pain and is starting to move a little faster and more freely.  Prayers are being answered as she is better able to enjoy her friends and navigate her environment.

 

When the Baylor Alumni come to town, Chuck, Shelby and I get to go to Top Golf with our friends!  I am just as bad at golf as I thought I would be, but we had a really fun night nonetheless.  Sometimes laughing at how bad you are is even more fun than being good at something.  At least that’s what I’m telling myself.  Besides, I got to take a pic with the president of the university and won a door prize!

 

The next day I drove back to my mom’s to attended a ladies’ luncheon at her church.  A speaker from Mama Bear Apologetics knocked my socks off.  And no, this has nothing to do with Baylor and everything to do with strategies for teaching your children and grandchildren how to defend their faith.  Check out their website, resources and books at the link above.  You won’t be sorry.

 

I’ve kept busy this last week working (including a 70’s themed Member Appreciation), attending choir board meeting, baccalaureate planning, and staying with my sister in the hospital following surgery.  And tonight, we will soak in every minute of Allie’s last high school Jazz Show.   To top it all off, this Sunday is Senior Sunday, where all the graduating seniors are recognized.  Lord, help me!

 

Entertainment

 

To distract and entertain ourselves, Chuck, Shelby and I went to the theater to see Air:  A Story of Greatness.  We enjoyed this story of how the Air Jordan basketball shoe came to be, but I could have done without about 200 F-bombs.  I always think true stories are the best stories and aside from the language, this one delivered.   At home we watched the mini-series Daisy Jones and the Six on Amazon Prime after hearing several positive reviews.  I will give it the same thumbs down for language and there is a LOT of drug use.  But it’s telling the story of a rock band in the 70’s (some say loosely based on Stevie Nicks).  And it’s a cautionary tale.  With a couple of surprises if you haven’t read the book.  I am currently obsessed with a the soundtrack.

 

I listened to Bono’s memoir Surrender:  40 Songs, One Story.  It is really long so you may not want to attempt it if you aren’t a U2 super fan.  I am only a casual fan of the music, but I’m rather fascinated by the man.  Probably because I can’t quite figure out a man who quotes scripture on one page and curses on the next.  He is social activist and devoted follower of Jesus.  He’s rock and roll and small group bible study.  This book did nothing to help me figure him out, but it was interesting in some places and way too wordy in others.  If you decide to tackle it, choose the audio.  You get his voice as well as snippets of all the songs as he talks about them.  But be forewarned, it’s over 20 hours long.

 

Since I was in a memoir mood, I checked out Waxing On:  The Karate Kid and Me by Ralph Macchio.  If you are child of the ’80s, this is a fun, easy read.  And I completed The 4:8 Principle:  The Secret to a Joy-Filled Life by Tommy Newberry, which I wrote about here.

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up.

 

Heather Hart of Candidly Christian has crawled into my brain with her post When Things Go Wrong.  The last few years have called me to trust on the Lord more than I ever knew I would need to or could.  And this post is an encouragement for such a time as these.

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

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Do We Have to Ditch December?

December 30, 2022 by Lauren 6 Comments

DecemberChristmas dork.  That’s what my family affectionately calls me.  At least I choose to believe it’s affectionate and not mocking, anyway.  I don’t believe anything is quite so magical as twinkling lights and I love the decorations in my house.  I pick out coordinating rolls of wrapping paper and cover the floor under the tree in festive colors and ribbons.  The music, the traditions, sweet movies and time with family all have me asking,

“Do we have to ditch December”?  Every year I dread the post-holiday let-down.  I don’t have a blue Christmas, it’s a blue January in this house.

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So hang tight while I relive the last 30 days.  I’ll start with Christmas on 5th.  My daughter was invited to Baylor University for a tour and meet and greet with other upcoming Freshmen.  We decided to drive down the night before to attend the school’s annual Christmas tree lighting, concert and other festivities.  Allie connected with a few friends who already attend school there and stayed the night in a dorm while I called an old friend and spent the evening with her and her family.December

 

The next day we met students and professors at Top Golf for good eats, fun and networking.  Baylor knows how to court students and I so enjoyed being at my alma mater and spending time with my girl.  Afterward we rushed back to get her to theater rehearsal.

 

The Gift of Family

 

The first Saturday of the month we hung out with our nieces to give my sister and her husband a date night.  Chuck and I took them and Shelby to a Christmas light drone show on Main Street.  You may not know this, but I live in the self-proclaimed Christmas Capital of Texas.  Pretty fitting, I know.  We played games and tried the new peppermint Frosty at Wendy’s.  And all the while Allie delivered singing Christmas cards with her jazz choir.

 

Speaking of choir and nieces, we went to see two of mine sing in concerts at their school and enjoyed both nights of Allie’s Winter Wonderland themed concert at her school.  So many family and friends came to support her.  The hubs and I could not be more proud of her talent – among other things.  And at the end of the weekend the jazz ensembles from her school entertained at the annual party for the senior citizens from the city recreation center where I work.  Same songs.  Equal enjoyment every time.  And in between all these shows I got Shelby to see Santa Claus.  She was struggling with some seizure activity so I didn’t get a great photo, but she still lit up at the prospect of seeing her “Claus”.

 

A bigger seizure kept me from being at a Life Group brunch on time a few days later, but she recovered beautifully to attend a Best Buddies party with her sister.  Where she again got to visit “Claus”.

 

Mid-December

 

About mid month I tried to separate my pinkie toe from the rest of my foot on a piece of furniture in the middle of the night.  This had me hobbling and elevating for a few days.  My supervisors at work were kind enough to allow me to wear house shoes for a shift.  It was Christmas sweater day and my holiday slippers did match the reindeers on my sweater.  So there’s that.

 

We ate BBQ and opened gifts with my family on the 21st since I was hosting my husband’s family the 23rd and 24th.  In between I watched my Baylor Bears play a disappointing bowl game.  And that’s all I’ll say about that.

 

 

Chuck’s brother and sister-in-law plus their 3 year old Dylan stayed at our house and my father-in-law stayed close by.  Unfortunately, Chuck’s mom got sick and had to stay home.  My other brother-in-law and sister-in-law came over with their kids on Saturday and we ate, played games and enjoyed each other’s company.  We also snuck in a Christmas Eve service.  I always love our church but service always feels a little more magical on Christmas Eve.

 

The Pinnacle of December

 

For the second year in a row we spent the entirety of Christmas day in the car.  Not fun, but my bonus son and grandkids are on the end of that drive.  So it’s well worth it.  The girls and I only got to stay in Colorado for 2 days so we could get Allie back home for the Passion Conference.  Chuck stayed the rest of the week to help his son with childcare and flies back home tomorrow.

 

Tomorrow evening we host PJ New Year’s Eve.  It’s a semi annual tradition for us and some friends and neighbors.  None of us really want to go out on NYE, but neither do we want to do nothing.  So we all wear our pajamas, eat, play games and call it a night early.  Can’t wait!

 

I pray you have something to look forward to soon as well.  And I want to offer my deep gratitude that you have shared your time with me this year.  You will never know how much it means to me that you take the time to read.  As always, I thank you, I love you and I hope 2023 treats you well.

 

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

Just in case you set a reading goal for the new year, I wanted to highlight Grace and Truth’s own Lisa Burgess.  She gave us her 20 favorite books of 2022.  10 fiction and 10 non-fiction.  So there’s something for everyone!

 

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

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About Me

I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
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